Mascioli



Feb. 7, 1956 A. MASCIOLI 2,733,463

LAST CONSTRUCTION Filed June 5, 1955 Anthony Mascio/i INVENTOR.

l2 BY WE hus United States Patent 2,733,463 LAST CONSTRUCTION AnthonyMascioli, New York, N. Y. Application Junev 3, 1955, Serial No. 513,067

3 Claims. (Cl. 1Z---133) afoot received in a shoe made therefrom will befirmly gripped to prevent both lateral and longitudinal sliding of thefoot received in the shoe.

Itis a further-object of the invention, in conjunction with the primaryobject, to provide ashoe last hav ng a novel foreshortened toe portionacting in con unction with a deep concavity :along theinner longitudinaledge of the shank portion of the last whereby a shoe made from,

the last will firmly grip the arch of a foot received therein to therebyprevent lateral or longitudinal shifting of the foot within the shoe andeffectively prevent both inner and outer pronation of the foot while inaddition preventing a loose fit of the foot in the heel portion of theshoe.

A further object of the invention is in the provision of a lastconstruction particularly adapted for the making of ladies high heeledshoes wherein the last is provided with a foreshortened toe portion andan extended shank portion as compared to a usual last of the same sizeand Width whereby the angle of incidence of the shank portion relativeto the heel portion of the last will be less than that of the usuallast.

These together will other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forminga part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing an embodiment of my lastconstruction in accordance with the invention with a usual last of thesame size and Width being shown in dotted outline;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevational view taken from the outer side of the last ofFigure 1; and' 2,733,463 Patented Feb, 7, 1953 "ice ' very slightlyconvexed, bottom surface 20.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view'taken stantially flat,or very slightly convexed, bottomsurface t The bottom surfaces of theheel portion 16 and the toe and ball portions 10 and 12 are sharplyinclined relative to one another, being spaced from one another by theconnecting shank portion 14. The shank portion merges smoothly into theheel portion of the shoe so there is no visible breakin the line of theshankat the breast line, indicated by the numeral 15 in Figure 2 of thelast.

The toe and ball portions 10 and 12 of the lastare considerablyforeshortened over the comparable portions of a usual last of the samesize and width as shown in Figure 1. Further, the shank is consequentlyextended in length over the comparable shank length of the usual last sothat the angle of incidence between the heel portion 16' of the last andthe ball and toe portions 12 and 10 of the last of my invention isgreatly reduced from the comparable angle of incidence of the usual lastas will be indicated from the lines 26 and 32 leading from a point ballportions of a conventional last and makes an 'angle of incidence withthe line 30 representing a baseline of about 41. -The line 26'tangent tothe heel and ball portions of my improved last makes 'an angle ofincidence of approximately 38 with respect to the base or reference line30 with the heel of the usual last and my improved last at the samevertical elevation above the base line 30.

Further, the last has a deep cavity 36 along the inner longitudinal edgeof the shank portion thereof which extends from the break line 40 of thelast to a position in front of the breast line 15 of the last. Thus, areduced cross-sectional area is provided in the shank portion of thelast as compared to the usual last as will be noted in the dotted linecomparison of Figure 4 taken on a section approximately across the waistof the last. Further, this concavity causes the mass of the last to bedisposed toward the outer longitudinal edge thereof in my improved lastconstruction.

With this construction, the foreshortened toe portion cooperates withthe concavity along the inner longitudinal edge of the last to cause afoot received in a shoe made from the last to be disposed forward in theshoe and retained against any longitudinal slippage in the shoe duringwalking. Yet, the mass of the last being disposed toward the outerlongitudinal edge of the last from the center line 42 of the last in myimproved last construction permits lateral fiexure of the foot andparticularly to the ball portion of a foot received in a shoe made fromthe last during walking.

To prevent lateral slippage of the foot received in a shoe made from myimproved last construction, the last has along the break line thereof aslightly concave recess of ellipsoidal shape as designated by thenumeral 44 particularly noted in Figure 2.

The major axis 45 of the ellipsoidal recess is disposed generallyparallel to the break line 40 and displaced therefrom toward the innerlongitudinal edge of the last and forwardly of the break line wherebythe major portion of the recess will be located in the ball portion ofthe last. The minor axis of the ellipsoidal recess extends generally inthe direction of the longitudinal center line 42 of the ast.

The recess 44 is disposed intermediate the edges of the last andprovides a transverse arch support for the middle metatarsals and servesin conjunction with the concavity 36 ath shankr qn o the t to l e ot aai lateral displacement when received in a shoe made from a notedprev-iously may be; utilized :while s't-illaffording ample-lateral andlongitudinaltclearance-t for afoot in-a .shoe rhade frorn. thellast.flherecess 44.causes a corresponding bulge in -la. ,s hoe;made:therefromalong with a corresponding shank bulge from conea-vit-yfidin a shoe madetherefrom providing for smooth natural walking actions with thetransition of l the weight; of the foot from fscaphoid to thecuboid-stream in aneasy. and natural manner-.without'inward or-putwardpronation of the foot ort witlioutlongitudinal orlateral rubbing oftheifoot due to. displacement thereof-in the shoe. v t

7 Eillithertthe break line--40qofthe last is sharplyinclined ,lto followQthe natural laterally offset relation of the metat'arsals ofithefdotto one another in-. a shoe made from the lass ,This inclination willtbereadily apparentfrom an examination ofzFigure 2 wherein it will be notedthat the distance from the heel extremity 46 of the longitudinalc'efiterline 4250f the-.lastio the point 48 on the inner a longitudinal:edge of the breakline is considerably greater i lianthe distance fromthe point46 to the point 52 at themes longitudinal edgeof the break line40.

The change in configurationof, my. improved lastcontstrnction,ascompared to :that of. a usual-last, ofthe same and while-givingmyimproved lastarshorter lower; appearance is accomplished withoutany'dif-.ference. in ,cubit; volume between; the two; lasts, and withan nydiiference inheel-height of shoes madefrom ftlietwolasts. 7

From the foregoing description, the last construction of the presentinvention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and thebeneficial effects therefrom will also be readily apparent. Accordingly,further description is believed unnecessary and what is claimed as newis as follows.

What is claimed as new. is .as..follows:

1. A shoe last having a'foreshortened toe portion and an extended shankportiont extendingto the heel portion thereof as compared'to ayusuallast of the same size and Width whereby the angle 'ofincidence of theshank portion relative, to the heel portion" oh the last Willbe lessthan that of the usual last, said last having a sharply inclinedrelatively straight br eakline, -Said last'having a deep concavity alongthe inner longitudinal edge of the shank portion extending from thebreak line to a position in front of the breast line whereby a reducedcross-sectional area is provided in theshank portion as compared to ausual last and the mass of the last is disposedtoward the outerlongitudinal edge of 'the1last, said foreshortened toe portion andsaidaconcavity causing -,a foot received in a shoe'made from the last tobe disposed forward-in the shoe, said last having the same cubic volumeas the foot within the shoe.

3. The combination of claim 2 whereinthe'majoraxis of the ellipsoidalrecess .is disposed generally parallel to the'break line; 7

"No references-cited;

